1. Johnson B, Ulberg S, Shivale S, Donaldson J, Milczarski B, Faraone SV. {{Fibromyalgia, autism, and opioid addiction as natural and induced disorders of the endogenous opioid hormonal system}}. {Discov Med};2014 (Oct);18(99):209-220.
INTRODUCTION: Because of their circulation through the blood, the multiplicity of receptor sites, and the diversity of functions, opioids may most accurately be designated as a hormone. Opioids modulate the intensity of pain. In mammals, the opioid system has been modified to modulate social interactions as well (Panksepp and Watt, 2011). METHODS: Over 10,000 patient encounters were observed on a neuropsychoanalytic addiction medicine service. Cold pressor times (CPT) were recorded before and after stimulation of the opioid system with low-dose naltrexone (LDN) for patients after opioid detoxification and for fibromyalgia patients. RESULTS: Patients maintained on opioids relate autistically. The cold, unrelated nature of their human interactions was reversed by detoxification from opioids. Fibromyalgia patients have difficulty participating in human relationships, as if they lack an ability to respond interpersonally, as do post-detoxification patients. LDN improved pain tolerance as shown by a significant increase on CPT for post detoxification patients from 16 seconds to 55 seconds and in fibromyalgia patients from 21 seconds to 42 seconds, and improved relatedness. The correlation of opioid prescribing increasing over time and autism prevalence increasing over time is highly significant. CONCLUSIONS: 1. Opioid-maintained patients relate autistically. 2. Autism is a hyperopioidergic disorder. 3. Fibromylagia is a hypoopioidergic disorder. 4. Low opioid tone caused by opioid maintenance or fibromyalgia can usually be reversed with low-dose naltrexone. 5. The increase in the incidence of autism may have been caused by the increase in use of opioids for analgesia during childbirth.
2. Kuo MH, Magill-Evans J, Zwaigenbaum L. {{Parental mediation of television viewing and videogaming of adolescents with autism spectrum disorder and their siblings}}. {Autism};2014 (Oct 21)
Adolescents with autism spectrum disorder spend considerable time in media activities. Parents play an important role in shaping adolescents’ responses to media. This study explored the mediation strategies that parents of adolescents with autism spectrum disorder used to manage television and video game use, factors associated with their use of different strategies, and whether mediation strategies changed over time. A secondary purpose was to examine whether parents applied different mediation strategies to adolescents with autism spectrum disorder versus siblings, and the factors that created stress related to managing media use. Parents of 29 adolescents with autism spectrum disorder and 16 siblings completed questionnaires at two time points. Parents most frequently supervised their television viewing by watching it with the adolescents, and used restrictive strategies to regulate their videogaming. Parents used similar strategies for siblings, but more frequently applied restrictive and instructive strategies for videogaming with adolescents with autism spectrum disorder than their siblings. Restrictive mediation of television viewing for the adolescents decreased significantly over the year. Adolescents’ time spent in media activities, age, and behavior problems, and parents’ concerns about media use were significant factors associated with the strategies that parents employed. Parents’ stress related to the adolescents’ behavioral and emotional responses to parental restrictions.
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3. Palmer CJ, Paton B, Enticott PG, Hohwy J. {{‘Subtypes’ in the Presentation of Autistic Traits in the General Adult Population}}. {J Autism Dev Disord};2014 (Oct 22)
The present study examined the presentation of autistic traits in a large adult population sample (n = 2,343). Cluster analysis indicated two subgroups with clearly distinguishable trait profiles. One group (n = 1,059) reported greater social difficulties and lower detail orientation, while the second group (n = 1,284) reported lesser social difficulties and greater detail orientation. We also report a three-factor solution for the autism-spectrum quotient, with two, related, social-themed factors (Sociability and Mentalising) and a third non-social factor that varied independently (Detail Orientation). These results indicate that different profiles of autistic characteristics tend to occur in the adult nonclinical population. Research into nonclinical variance in autistic features may benefit by considering social- and detail-related trait domains independently.
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4. Poot M. {{A candidate gene association study further corroborates involvement of contactin genes in autism}}. {Mol Syndromol};2014 (Aug);5(5):229-235.
Although autism spectrum disorder (ASD) shows a high degree of heritability, only a few mutated genes and mostly de novo copy number variations (CNVs) with a high phenotypic impact have as yet been identified. In families with multiple ASD patients, transmitted CNVs often do not appear to cosegregate with disease. Therefore, also transmitted single nucleotide variants which escape detection if genetic analyses were limited to CNVs may contribute to disease risk. In several studies of ASD patients, CNVs covering at least one gene of the contactin gene family were found. To determine whether there is evidence for a contribution of transmitted variants in contactin genes, a cohort of 67 ASD patients and a population-based reference of 117 healthy individuals, who were not related to the ASD families, were compared. In total, 1,648 SNPs, spanning 12.1 Mb of genomic DNA, were examined. After Bonferroni correction for multiple testing, the strongest signal was found for a SNP located within the CNTN5 gene (rs6590473 [G], p = 4.09 x 10(-7); OR = 3.117; 95% CI = 1.603-6.151). In the ASD cohort, a combination of risk alleles of SNPs in CNTN6 (rs9878022 [A]; OR = 3.749) and in CNTNAP2 (rs7804520 [G]; OR = 2.437) was found more frequently than would be expected under random segregation, albeit this association was not statistically significant. The latter finding is consistent with a polygenic disease model in which multiple mutagenic mechanisms, operating concomitantly, elicit the ASD phenotype. Altogether, this study corroborates the possible involvement of contactins in ASD, which has been indicated by earlier studies of CNVs.
